Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who is visiting the United States, moved his meeting with President George W. Bush from Monday to Sunday in order to return to Israel early, after two Islamic Jihad suicide bombers killed themselves and 10 Israelis in a mall in occupied Jerusalem, reported Haaretz newspaper.
The two suicide bombers, who were situated some 40 meters apart, blew themselves up almost simultaneously, around 11:30pm. A car bomb went off some 20 minutes later.
Filling in for Sharon, Foreign Minister Shimon Peres convened the security cabinet Sunday morning to discuss the suicide attacks in which 180 were wounded. No operative decisions will be taken, however, until Sharon returns from the United States.
After speaking with Defense Minister Benjamin Ben Eliezer Saturday night, Sharon also consulted with top army and Shin Bet officials.
After the attacks, Interior Minister Eli Yishai (Shas Party), a member of Sharon's entourage, said the government had to "take steps that are beyond targeted killings against terror [activists]."
He added that the government needed to decide whether or not to topple Arafat's Palestinian Authority. "Israel will find it difficult to withstand another year or two of terror attacks, which could cause social and economic collapse in the country," he was quoted as saying.
But Science, Culture and Sports Minister Matan Vilnai (Labor), also in the US with Sharon, counseled against toppling Arafat, saying that if Arafat was removed from the territories, he could be replaced by extreme Palestinian groups like Hamas. "We have to pressure Arafat so that he understands that he has no choice but to return to the negotiating table," he said.
Infrastructure Minister Avigdor Lieberman, of the far-right National Union-Yisrael Beiteinu alliance, said that the time had come to "topple the Palestinian Authority. It's clear that Hamas and [Islamic] Jihad would not be able to act if Arafat didn't want them to," he said.
Lieberman said that after destroying the PA, Israel had to divide the territories into four cantons, each with a local commander, whom he said would not be taking orders from Arafat.
Removing Arafat, countered Labor's Yossi Beilin, would not make the violence "disappear. After we wipe away the tears, we have to understand that the solution is not in continuing violence or in the desire for revenge," he said. "We have to exploit [US envoy Anthony] Zinni's visit to renew security talks at the highest levels."
The paper said that the PA has condemned the attack, as customarily after each suicide attack, which the PA has rejected as a form of national struggle against 34 years of Israeli occupation.
The PA released a statement Saturday night, condemning the terror attacks and expressing its "deep anger ... and pain." The statement accused those behind the attack of trying to derail Zinni's cease-fire mission, said Haaretz.
But Bush called on Arafat to find and arrest those responsible for the attacks and "act swiftly and decisively against the organizations that support them."
"I was horrified and saddened to learn of the bombings that took place tonight in (occupied)Jerusalem. I strongly condemn them as acts of murder that no person of conscience can tolerate and no cause can ever justify," Bush said.
"[President] Arafat and the Palestinian Authority must immediately find and arrest those responsible for these hideous murders. They must also act swiftly and decisively against the organizations that support them.
"Now more than ever, [President] Arafat and the Palestinian Authority must demonstrate through their actions and not merely their words their commitment to fight terror," the president concluded.
The Palestinian official news agency (WAFA) reported that State Secretary Colin Powell called Arafat Sunday "and discussed with him the latest developments in light of the Jerusalem operations that targeted civilian Israelis."
US Mideast envoy Anthony Zinni said that Arafat must find and put on trial the militants behind the attack.
"I spoke with [President] Arafat tonight and made absolutely clear that those responsible for planning and carrying out these attacks must be found and brought to justice," Zinni said in a statement.
News agencies put the number of Israelis killed at over 200, and the number of wounded at more than 2,000. The Tel Aviv-based Haartez daily recently counted over 700 Palestinians killed, and between 8,500 and 10,000 wounded – Albawaba.com
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
